Scotland 221/3 (20 Overs) Munsey 71, Berrington 64*, Cross 50, defeated Netherlands 106 (14 overs) Tahir 3/26, Leask 1/16, Berrington 1/7 by 115 runs [Scorecard]
Scotland put in a record breaking performance at the VRA in Amstelveen to lift the T20 Tri-Series against the host Netherlands.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey signalled their sides intent by bringing up their first 50 runs in the 5th over of the innings.
Munsey bludgeoned the ball to all parts once again, but also used scoops and reverse-sweeps to dissect the field. Cross joined him and, on the wicket-keepers 100th appearance for Scotland, notched up his second T20I half century.
Munsey flew to his highest T20 score of 71 from just 31 balls with his innings coming to an end after being bowled by Westley Barresi.
Cross was made to work hard for his runs and his 50 featured only two boundaries as he showed how to run hard between the wickets before being caught by Ben Cooper on the rope.
Richie Berrington was then able to finish off the innings in explosive fashion with 8 fours and 2 sixes to become the third Scot to pass 50.
Calum MacLeod came to the crease to hit his first ball for four as Scotland set an imperious 221/3 from their 20 overs, Berrington finishing on 64*.
The reply didn’t really ever get going for the Netherlands as Mark Watt and Alasdair Evans both struck in their opening overs, and when Michael Leask trapped Tobias Vissee LBW the Netherlands were on 32/3 in the 5th over.
Hamza Tahir returned with 3/26, claiming the wickets of Tim van der Gueten, Pieter Seelaar and Paul va Meekeren to put the game to bed.
Fred Klaassen was run out from his first ball and with Zulfiqar unable to bat, Scotland recorded a 115 run win against their hosts and win the Tri-Series.
At the end of the game captain Kyle Coetzer reflected on the competition, “We have played some outstanding cricket during the tournament. The squad kicked on and learned fast from our first game and by the end of it we were peaking and playing some high quality stuff, it’s just a shame its ending there for us for this season.
I’m really proud that the guys have against made another statement after the England and Pakistan matches it’s great to set Scotland’s highest ever total in T20 internationals.”
Head Coach Grant Bradburn concluded, “It has been a satisfying and compelling performance today from our team and a fitting way to finish an excellent three weeks together.
Bradburn also expressed his gratitude to Heath Streak for his hand behind the scenes, “Heath has fitted into our team environment brilliantly as we knew he would. We are very grateful to him for taking time to join us on this tour. Streaky has a great ability to relate to people and we have all benefited from his cutting edge knowledge of this format.”
Video Highlights
Video courtesy of Ian Potts
